Jeweler: Insurer won't pay refunds

Snowfall fell short of promotion's required 3 inches

P.K. Bennett Jewelers says its insurance company won't pay for a promotion tied to how much snow fell between midnight and noon on New Year's Day. (WGN-TV)

A Mundelein jeweler who offered more than $150,000 in refunds if it snowed enough Wednesday morning said his insurance company won't pay the refunds because snowfall totals didn't reach the 3-inch threshold.

P.K. Bennett Jewelers ran a promotion offering future refunds to customers who made purchases there from Black Friday to Christmas Eve if it snowed more than 3 inches at O'Hare International Airport from midnight to noon New Year's Day.

But owner Rich Bennett said he was "extremely disappointed" when his insurance company informed him Friday that his claim was denied because of insufficient snowfall totals.

He said he and his wife, Peggy, who've owned the store since 2001, had been looking forward to handing out the refunds at a "cash and Champagne party" they had planned.

"This was a way for us to give back to our customers, and to get so close and to have so much snow, and then literally just have the rug pulled out from underneath us, it's very disappointing for us," he said.

No one from the company Bennett identified as his insurer, HCC Specialty Underwriters, could be reached late Friday.

But a representative of the weather service that provided the snowfall totals to the insurance company said he understood that, given the large amount of snow that has fallen in the Chicago area in recent days, it might be difficult for people to believe the promotion missed the mark.

"It seems one way, but the facts point another way," said David James, sales and marketing meteorologist for WeatherCommand, a private weather service based in Palatine.

James pointed to National Weather Service records online (but not yet formally certified) showing that 2.1 inches of snowfall was recorded at O'Hare on Wednesday. From there, he said, his company calculated that about 1.1 inches fell between midnight and noon that day.

Bennett said that 224 customers, whose purchases totaled more than $150,000, had opted in to the promotion.

If the snow totals hold up, Bennett said he might still throw a smaller party for those who participated.